Who was the rescuer that everyone was waiting for? Jesus
Why did we need a rescuer? Because our sin separates us from God. Jesus came to defeat sin and death, and make a way for us to be with God forever as part of his family.
Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem
Who announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds? Angels
Who followed a star to see Jesus? Wise men
Can you remember what the wise men gave Jesus? Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
Who wanted to kill Jesus? King Herod (but God kept him safe!)
What is YOUR favorite part of the Christmas story?
What was your favorite thing that you did with your family this year? Getting a tree, decorating cookies...
What was your favorite gift (either that you gave, or that someone gave you)?
What are you most excited about for NEXT year?
Let’s Memorize!
This is our last week with our December memory verse. Can you say it on your own?
Let’s Do!
Make some paper snowflakes!
You can use these printable templates for some extra fancy designs, or just grab a piece of white paper and fold like this.
See what designs YOU come up with. If you’d like to share them with your egckids teachers, post them to Instagram or facebook and tag #egckidsathome
Let’s Pray!
Jesus, Thank you for all the ways you bless us. For family and friends, for Christmas trees and snowy days, for holidays and all that makes them special. Thank you for coming to be our rescuer, and for always being with us. Thank you that you are our peace and our hope. We love you. Amen.
Let’s Bless!
Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):
Have you ever had really big news to share? Something you couldn’t wait to tell someone about? What was it?
Lets say you had some suuuuper exciting news. Like, the most exciting news you could possibly ever have. How would you tell people about it?
Jesus’ arrival was some REALLY big news. They didn’t have telephones or FaceTime or news stations to get the news out, but that didn’t mean no one heard! Let’s watch and see what happened!
Let’s Watch!
Let’s Talk!
What is a shepherd’s job? To take care of sheep
Imagine that you were in charge of watching a bunch of sheep out in a field and an angel showed up and started talking to you. What do you think that would have been like?
What does “Glory to God” mean? Glory means honor and respect: they’re worshiping God.
After seeing Jesus, the shepherds went and told EVERYONE they could about him. Why do you think they did that?
Because Jesus was the cutest baby ever?
Because they had never seen a baby before?
God’s people had been waiting for a LONG time for the rescuer to come. And here he was. God had kept his promise! That was BIG news!
If you were to ask the Shepherds when they met Jesus, they would tell you that they met him as a baby after the Angels told them about Him, right?
How about you? How did YOU meet Jesus? Did someone tell you about Him?
If you’ve never met Jesus, would you like to meet him?
From the EGC Kids Team:The Bible tells us that we ALL have sinned (Rom 3:23), and that sin separates us from God. But God promised a rescuer, and that’s what we’ve been talking about the past few weeks. Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again to defeat the powers of sin and death. He came to make us new. That’s why the Christmas story is so powerful: no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done: you are loved by a God who would go to incredible lengths to forgive you – and make you a part of his family.
If you don’t know Him, but would like to, there are some resources below that can help! If you have any questions or would like to speak with someone here at EGC about what it means to follow Jesus, you can reach a member of our pastoral staff hereor our our kids min team here.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: – What is the Big God story? This video tells the story of the Bible from creation to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to what it means for us today. It’s a great summary for early elementary ages. – Leading Kids to JesusBelow is a document provided by TruStory about leading kids to Jesus (TruStory is the curriculum we base our lessons on each week).
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
Check out the video below to learn fun movements to our memory verse with Ms. Crystal!
Let’s Do!
Option 1: Do you see what I see?
Have each person in your family take turns spotting an object that is in the room with you. Without telling people what it is, try giving people two clues about your object to see if they can guess what it is.
For instance, if you chose a lamp, you could say: “It’s bright and you plug it in.”
The person who guesses what your object is gets to take the next turn!
Option 2: Do you hear what I hear?
Play a game of telephone! Have one person think of a sentence or phrase and whisper it into the ear of the person next to them (without repeating anything!)
That person then whispers what they think they heard to the next person in line, who tells the following person. . . until it makes it back to the last person. The final person has to say what they heard out loud to see if the message stayed the same or got totally mixed up!
Let’s Pray!
Can you think of a time when God did something really BIG in your life? What was it? (Has he healed you or someone you know? Provided something you needed? Given you courage to do something?)
Our stories about meeting Jesus or what we’ve seen Him do are called our testimonies. Testimony is a big word, but it basically means “telling.” We tell others about who Jesus is and what he’s done – just like the shepherds did!
When the shepherds told other people about Jesus, many were excited and began praising God. YOU can help people come to know Jesus too, by sharing your story with them.
Today, let’s pray and thank Jesus together for all the things He’s done!
Let’s Bless!
Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):
Last week, we talked about the prophets, and how God told them that he had a plan to save His people by sending a rescuer.
The prophets told the people lots of things about the rescuer that was coming.
He was going to be called Immanuel. (which means God with us!)
He would be born in Bethlehem
He would be part of David’s family tree.
God’s promises gave people HOPE even when things were hard. (Hope is a feeling of excited trust about what is going to happen.) And even though it took a long, long time. . .God kept ALL of the promises he made!
Let’s watch what happened:
Let’s Watch!
Let’s Talk about Promises!
Who told Mary she was going to have a baby? An angel!
What do YOU think it would be like to have an angel give you a message from God? She probably was excited and scared. . .
Who else did an angel talk to? Joseph
What did the ruler decide that he wanted to do? Count all of the people.
Where did Mary and Joseph have to go? Bethlehem.
Do you know what’s cool about this story? God kept all of the promises he had given his people!
Mary was part of David’s family.
Mary and Joseph (even though they didn’t live in Bethlehem had to travel there!)
Jesus, even though he came as a baby, is the Son of God!
Has anyone ever promised you something? What was it? Did they keep their promise? How do you feel if someone doesn’t keep their promise?
God ALWAYS keeps his promises. His promises STILL give us hope, because we can still trust that he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do!
Christmas is about celebrating the promises God kept, AND celebrating what he’s STILL going to do. We have HOPE no matter what happens because he always keeps his promises.
Let’s Memorize!
*Note: the prophet Isaiah wrote these words many years before Jesus was born. But he trusted that God was sending a rescuer like he promised – and He did!
Let’s Do: Trust Falls
Have a parent (or a trustworthy older sibling) stand behind you and hold out their hands.
Fold your arms across your chest, make your body totally stiff, and fall backwards like you’re a tree! – TIMBERRRRR…
Take turns until everyone has a chance to try it!
Let’s Pray!
God promised us a rescuer – and the rescuer came! What are some other things God has promised us? (we’ve listed a few below to get you started!)
Which promise do you need God to remind you of this week? (Maybe if you’re worried about something you need God to give you his peace, or you have a big decision to make and you need God to give you his wisdom).
Take some time to pray that God would help you to remember His promises – and ask him for what you need and to fill you with his hope! Remember, He ALWAYS keeps His promises!
Let’s Bless!
Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):
Let’s Share Hope!
Who do you know that could use some hope right now? Perhaps someone who is sick, or can’t see family for Christmas, or has been going through a hard time. Make a plan as a family to do something for them this week (Ideas: send a card, call them on the phone, order something to be delivered).
What is a prophet? Someone who hears from God and shares it!
What was the main message that the prophets in the Bible told people? Their sin was going to cause all sorts of problems for them – but God had a plan, a rescuer was coming!
What is sin? Sin is disobeying God. It can mean doing what we aren’t supposed to, or living the way we want to and choosing not to follow God.
Can anyone choose to just stop sinning and be perfect on their own? No.
The prophets told about someone who was coming to save people from their sin. Who? Let’s find out together!
The rescuer couldn’t just be any old person who decided to come help people out of the mess they made, the rescuer had to actually be able to save people from their sin – which meant that he had to be sinless, AND have power over sin and death.
God is the only one who fits that description, so Jesus came to earth to be with us, and to rescue us! And that’s what we celebrate at Christmas!
Let’s Memorize!
*Note: the prophet Isaiah wrote these words many years before Jesus was born. But he trusted that God was sending a rescuer like he promised – and He did!
Let’s Do!
Take turns thinking of someone (real or fictional character) that people in your family would know.
Have them ask you yes or no questions until they guess who it is! First person to guess gets to pick the next name! Examples of questions to ask: Is your person still alive? Is your person a girl?
Some name suggestions to get you started: Grandma or Grandpa, Cookie Monster, Mr. Incredible, Miss Crystal. . .
Let’s Listen!
Listen to this song and then take some time to talk about it together!
How is the story of Christmas a story of amazing love? Hint: Look at John 3:16& Romans 5:8.
Jesus was the rescuer that God told the prophets about. And God didn’t just send anyone – He sent Jesus. Because God’s plan wasn’t for someone else to come and fix things, it was for HIM to fix things. The savior of the world would be Immanuel: God with us. The fact that Jesus was willing to come and be with us and die for us is the story of amazing love!
Christmas is a reminder that God keeps his promises and that he loves us so, SO much.
Let’s Pray!
What’s on your mind today? Take some time and talk to God about it! Whether you’re worried about something or excited about Christmas or just got a brand new pair of sneakers, God cares about it all because he cares about YOU! He wants to spend time with you and to be with you – and he can speak to YOU too, just like he spoke to the prophets!
Let’s Bless!
Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):
